Huo Wei: "Chengdu, Opened by the Heavens: Ancient Capital Culture in the Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Tang and Five Dynasties Periods"

Sichuan Museum Lecture·A Chengdu Unveiled by the Heavens: The Ancient Capital Culture during the Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Tang and Five Dynasties Periods

「Time」May 18, 2023, Thursday 14:30-17:30

「Location」Academic Lecture Hall, Sichuan Museum

「Speaker」Wei Huo

Wei Huo is a Distinguished Professor at Sichuan University, a scholar of the Ministry of Education, a member and one of the conveners of the 7th and 8th Archaeological Discipline Evaluation Groups of the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council, a final evaluation judge of the National Social Science Fund, and a member of the History Undergraduate Teaching Steering Committee of the Ministry of Education. He currently serves as the Director of the Sichuan University Museum, the Director of the China Tibetology Research Institute, a key base of the Ministry of Education, and the President of the Sichuan Provincial Archaeological Society. His main research areas are Han and Tang archaeology, Southwest archaeology, and art archaeology. His major representative works include "Archaeological Research on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau" and "Southwest Archaeology and Chinese Civilization." His academic achievements have won two second prizes from the Ministry of Education, the Wu Yuzhang Outstanding Achievement Award, and the first prize of the China Tibetology Research Everest Award, among others.

「Lecture Introduction」

"A Chengdu unveiled by the heavens, thousands of households and doors entering the painted scenery." This well-known line by the great Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai vividly depicts the beauty and prosperity of Chengdu during the 盛唐period. After the Sui and Tang dynasties unified the world, Sichuan enjoyed social stability, rapid economic development, and a rich and diverse culture. The prosperous Chengdu gained the reputation of "Yangzhou first, Yizhou (Chengdu) second."

The seeds of Sichuan's burgeoning development in the Tang and Five Dynasties periods were quietly sown during the Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties. The Hexi Corridor's transportation was hindered by war, and the role of the Silk Road's "Henan Route" became increasingly prominent. It flourished in the 4th-6th centuries AD, becoming an important channel connecting the political center of Jiankang with the Western Regions and Northern Desert. During the Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties, envoys, merchants, and monks from various countries in the Western Regions, Central Asia, and West Asia traveled through it, and diverse cultures exchanged and collided here, making Chengdu an international open city connecting the southern and northern Silk Roads and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

This lecture is a special academic lecture on ancient Sichuan for "5.18 International Museum Day." Professor Wei Huo will combine rich historical documents and a large number of exquisite cultural relics from the Sichuan Museum's "Ancient Sichuan - From the Jin to the Tang and Five Dynasties" exhibition to tell the story of the cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries centered on the "Henan Route" and the masterpieces of Buddhist art during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and show the grand occasion of Chengdu as the political, economic, and cultural center of West Shu during the Tang and Five Dynasties.

「Offline Participation Reservation」

Select "Activities" → "Lecture Reservation" in the Sichuan Museum WeChat service account menu bar to make a reservation.

Source｜Sichuan Museum